Ten Bizarre Eating Competitions That’ll Have You Puking in Triumph

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I hope you’re hungry, because we’ve whipped up a veritable smorgasbord of culinary consumption for you. Because you know what’s fun? Eating. And you know what makes eating even more fun? When you’re competitively shoveling it down your gullet in the name of fame, glory, indigestion, and maybe a prize. So if you’ve ever wondered how much fish jello you can choke down, or how fast you can throw back a cup of bugs, then we’ve got your next road trip all planned out. We’re digging into the stranger side of competitive eating — so come along!

Yup, those are bull gnards. Yes, they’re rumored to “pop” when you bite into them. Call them “Rocky Mountain Oysters” if you want, but nothing changes the fact that those things you’re wolfing down are bovine love spuds. Pro Tip: remember to wipe your chin afterward.

In Perthshire, Scotland the rules are simple: the first participant to down a pound of sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs (along with some veggies and spices) encased in said sheep’s stomach wins. Standard no puking rules apply.

When you hear the worlds “Yorkshire Pudding,” chances are your thoughts don’t automatically wend their way to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Still, that doesn’t stop local restaurant The Pub from holding one marathon of a championship. Competitors chow down on breaded goodness for a solid hour, winner take all. Be prepared to wolf down 20-30 of the suckers if you want to win the champion’s cup.

No, the picture above isn’t actually how this contest is conducted, that little girl is just awesome. However, being that the record for competitive grits eating is 21 pounds in 10 minutes, we figured the image was appropriate. Eat to your heart’s content, then dive into a pool of your own stomach’s contents. Hooray grits!

Held in Louisiana, this contest is no joke. The woman in the center of the picture above is named Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus, and she routinely takes down 40 dozen oysters during the competition. Challengers, ye be warned.

This one hits close to home. As a person who fell into a nettle plant at a young age, I can attest to the awful nature of this plant. Basically, every surface of it is covered in histamine-injecting hypodermic needles. It’s like a beehive that grows out of the ground, and in Dorset, UK they eat it raw. Chow down around 50 feet of the stuff and you’ll have a chance at being crowned champ.

An Bakersfield, California’s Sugar Twist Bakery there exists a donut like no other. It’s name is Gigantor, and eating it is the equivalent of downing a half dozen of its unworthy brethren. This year’s winner took the sumbitch down in just 1 minute and 17 seconds.

This festival, which benefits a local food bank, serves up thousands of pounds of bugs every time it’s held. Down three cups of crickets faster than the competition, and you get the honor of, uh, picking legs out of your teeth for a bit. Oh, and bragging rights. You get bragging rights.

Ah, Lutefisk. The Jello of fish the fish world, this horrific Nordic concoction is tough to swallow in the smallest of portions. At the annual Poulsbo Viking Fest, you’ll need to eat four pounds of the stuff to take home the top prize.

Also known as glass eels, elvers were once a popular foodstuff in Gloucestershire, UK. So popular, in fact, that they’re now a protected species. Due to this, the competitive eating of these tiny eels has been banned since the 1980s. Just this year, however, the contest made its triumphant return, this time serving plates of faux elvers made from fish bits.

Know of another crazy eating competition? Let us know in the comments!